Sound-producing device



I Sept. 4, 1921 L. J. GRUBMAN SOUND PRODUCING DEVICE Filed Dec. 30, 1922 avwemtoz L60 J firuzam tasters LEO J. GBUBEAN, 0]! NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 GRUBMAN ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW roan.

SOUND-'PRODUCING DEVICE.

Application filed December To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L Lno J. GRUBMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sound-Producing Devlces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sound producing devices adapted to be incorporated within the body of a doll or other figure toy for the purpose of simulating the natural cry thereof.

More particularly, the present invention comprehends a device of that general character referred to in the trade as a voice.

In other words, the sound producing device when operated by the proper manipulation of the doll within which the device is incorporated, produces sounds simulating the spoken ronunciation of the infant cry Mama. eretofore, it has been proposed to provide a movable air expelling member supported within a suitable housing or casing upon a fixed axially positioned air emission tube having an orifice with which a sound controlling part carried by the expelling member co-operates. In such a construction, however. the fixed sound emitting tube upon which the movable air expelling member" is supported offers an appreciable frictional resistance to the free movement of the latter.

In my present invention, I aim. to overcome the above and other objectionable features existing in sound producting devices as at present constructed for this purpose, and to provide such a device which is not only of simple construction and great durability, but which will also operate without fail in a very positive manner to produce a realistic simultation of the human infant rv. v

To this end, therefore, in one embodiment of my invention, E provide an air chamber, preferably of cylindrical form, which. may be suitably mounted within the body of a doll. Within this chamber a gravity movable air expelling member or piston is slidingiy movable. A sound emission tube extends axially through said chamber and is fixed at its ends in the head walls of the chamber, said tube receiving the expelled air in the form of sound waves produced by a suitable reed and having an orifice through which the sound is emitted. A'bontrol mem- 30, 1922. Serial No. 609,816.

ber has free sliding movement on said tube to-coact with the emission orifice and control the emission of sound therefrom, said member having ailoose connection at one of its ends with the air expelling piston so that said piston and control member move. as a unit axially of the sound emission tube while t ne control member is entirely free from any lateral bearing pressure by the piston and does not, therefore, transmit such bear: ing pressure to the sound emission tube. In other words, the sole support for the air expelling piston is afforded by the body wall of the air chamber with which said piston is slidingly engaged. In this manner, I have succeeded in producing a device which is very reliable and positive in its operation of exceedingly durable construction, and not likely to get out of order.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the improved sound producing device for dolls or other toys and in the form, construction and relative arrangement of its several parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawing wherein I have illustrated one practical anddesirable embodiment of the invention and in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a sound producing device constructed in accordance with my present disclosure.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a detail elevation of the sound controlling member.

In the drawing, for purposes of illustration, I have shown the several essential elements of the present invention assembled in co-operative relation with a cylindrical or drum shape form of the air receiving chamher, It will, however, be apparent as the description proceeds that this chamber may assume various otherforms, shapes or dimensions in order to satisfactorily meet the particular conditions which may exist in a specific practical application of the device to a doll or other toy figure. I may, therefore, refer generally to this air receiving chamber herein designated by the numeral 5, as being of sufiicient internal dimensions that it pos seses the requisite air capacity for the pro duction and emission of the desired sounds. This chamber may be conveniently constructed, by a suitable stamping operation, from aluminum or other sheet metal and as herein shown, is formed with av cylindrical body wall 6 and an integral end wall 7 closing one end of said chamber.

lVithin the chamber 5, a gravity movable air expelling member or piston 8 is arranged, said piston being in the form of a hollow shell entirely open at one of its ends and having an annular body wall of an internal diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of the chamber 5 but permitting of the free and unretarded sliding movement of said piston therein. The piston 8 at its other end is provided with a wall 9 having a raised or upset portion 10 provided with a central opening 11 therein. This'raised or upset section of the bottom wall of the piston 8 provides a chamber or cavity 12 which receives the body of a cupshaped member 18 having an annular outwardly extending flange 14 so that said member substantially corresponds in crosssectional form to the bottom wall 9 of the piston 8. Between the flange 14 and the annular section of the wall 9. which is opposed thereto, a packing ring or gasket 15 of suitable material is interposed. The member 13 is held in place by frictional engagement of its annular wall with the inner surface of the circumferential wall of the raised portion 10 of the piston wall 9 and serves to securely clamp the gasket 15 in place with its perimeter engaged with the inner surface of the wall of the chamber 5 to thereby prevent the escape of air from beneath the piston between the annular body wall thereof and the chamber wall. The member 13 is likewise formed with a central opening 16 for a purpose which will presently appear.

The other end of the air chamber 5 is closed by a head 17 having a plurality of sound emission apertures 18. The sound emission tube 19 extends axially through the air chamber and is suitably fixed at its opposite ends in the heads 7 and 17 respectively. It will be noted that the openings 16 and 11 of the piston through which this tube extends, are of considerably greater diameter than the tube so that no part of the piston has frictional contact upon the surface of the tube. The opposite ends of the tube 19 are closed by means of suitable plugs 20.

Any convenient means may be employed for the purpose of coverting the air expelled from the chamber 5 in the movement of the piston 8 in one'direction, into sound waves. In the present instance, I have shown this sound producing means in the form of a conventional reed 21 which is suitably mounted and supported within one end of the tube 19 adjacent to the air inlet orifice In spaced relation to its opposite end, said tube is provided with an outlet orifice 23 for the sound waves.

The emission of soundfrom the orifice 23 is controlled by the member shown in detail in Figure 3 of the drawing. This member which, like the parts of the piston 8, may be conveniently and expeditiously formed by a suitable stamping operation, is provided with a body portion 21 which is of appreciably greater diameter than the external diameter of the sound emission tube 19. At one of its ends, the tubular body 24 of the control member has a diametrically reduced extension 25 which snugly surrounds the tube 19 but has free and unretarded sliding movement thereon. Adjacent to the extension 25, the body wall 24 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced apertures 26. The other end of the body 24 is provided with an outwardly extending annular flange 27 which is loosely disposed in the chamber or cavit 12 between the raised portion 10 of the piston wall 9 and the parallel wall of the member 13. A ring of felt or other suitable packing material 28 is disposed between the upper surface of the flange 27 and the underside of the wall 10. The open end of the body 24 of the control member receives an annular bushing 29 which has a sliding fit upon the sound emission tube 19 and atight frictional fit against the wall of the control member.

By connecting the control member to the gravity movable piston in themanner above explained, it will be seen that the piston cannot exert a lateral pressure against the control member, the opening 11 in the wall 10 being of a diameter sufficiently greater than the external diameter of the control member to obviate any possibility of con tacting engagement of these parts, even though the sound emission tube 19 may not be accurately centered in the air chamber, so that the gravity movable piston when positioned in said chamber will not be in concentric relation to the tube. By the provision of the lateral sliding or floating connection between the control member and the piston, such inaccuracies are automatically taken care of. The control member may, therefore, be referred to as selfaligning in its relation to the sound emission tube, and even though the device may be subjected to considerable shock, jar or lateral pressure, the piston will not be laterally displaced to a sufiicient degree to cause a bearing pressure of the same upon the control member such as would interfere with the free and unrestricted action of the latter.

In the operation of my new sound producing device, as above described, when the doll meaere or other figure toy within which the device is mounted is properly manipulated and disposedin certain predetermined positions, the air expelling member or piston 8 will move by gravity along the tube 19 into one end of the chamber 5. In Figure 1 of the drawing, I have shown the piston at an intermediate osition of its air expelling movement. he tube 19 adjacent to the chamber head 17 is provided with a small orifice 30 through which the sound is first emitted. In other words, as this orifice is uncovered in the initial movement of the control member when its reduced part 25 passes below said orifice, sound will issue therefrom, while the other or main orifice 23 is closed by the bushing 29. This initial sound simulates the spoken pronunciation of the consonant letter M. As the gravity movement of the piston continues and the bushing 29 passes below the orifice 23, sound is then emitted through said orifice, the apertures 26 of the control member, and finally through the emission apertures 18 and simulates the spoken pronunciation of the vowel A. A further movement of said piston to the position seen in Fi ure 1 of the drawing again closes the ori ce 23 so that the second consonant letter M is sounded through the orifice 30, and when the reduced end 25 of the control member finally passes below the orifice 23 the final vowel letter A is sounded. It will be understood that the sounds are emitted in rapid succession to simulate in a very realistic manner the human infant cry Ma-ma. When the doll is returned to an upright position to cause the piston 8 to move by gravity in an opposite direction along the tube 19, air again enters the chamber 5 beneath the piston through the apertures 26 of the control member and the emission aperture 23 in the wall of the tube, such air finally passing through the reed 21 and orifice 22 into the air chamber.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, the construction, manner of operation and several advantages of my present invention will be clearly and fully understood. It will be seen that I have provided a very simple, compact and durable construction and arrangement of the several cooperating elements so that a positive and reliable functional action thereof is assured. This is a more or less important consideration in such a device intended for use in dolls and similar toys which are not infrequently subjected to considerable abuse. In the elimination of a positive or fixed connection between the sound controlling member andthe gravity movable piston, eater flexibility in operation is secured an after the device is once incorporated in the body or other structural part of the doll or toy, it

comprehensive nature and contemplates the substitution of any other alternative connec tion between the 'control member and the piston which will function in a like manner to produce substantially similar results. Likewise, my present improvements are not necessarily limited to the specific construc-,

tion of the sound emission tube or the mounting and arrangement of the sound producin reed with respect thereto, nor necessarily to the particular form, shape or structural details of the sound control member. In fact, in so far as I am aware, the provision of a sound control member having a connection with the gravity movable air expelling member which permits of the automatic self-aligning action of the control member with respect to the sound emission tube, is broadly new in the art and to this extent, it is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is considered to be merely illustrative of one practical structural embodiment thereof and does not exclude other alternative structures in which such improvement might be exemplified, and which I have embraced within the terms and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a sound producing device, an air chamber, a rigid, bodily movable member for expelling the air from said chamber, relatively fixed sound producing and emitting means through which the air is expelled, and a sound controlling member cooperatively engaged with said means and movable with the expellingmember and connected thereto by meanspermitting of a selfaligning action of the controlling member with respect to the sound producing and emitting means independently of the position of the air expelling member with respect to the sound producing and emitting means.

2. In a sound roducing device, an air chamber, a soun emission member ositioned in fixed axial relation to sai air chamber, sound producing means associated with said emission member; a member axially movable in said chamber for expelling the air from said chamber through said ..emis sion member, and a sound controllin" mem ber movable with the expelling mom reps ale operating with the emission member and connected with said expelling member by means permitting of an automatic selfalignin action of the controlling member with re ation tothe sound emission member independently of the position of the air expelling member with respect to said emission member.

3. In a sound producing device, an air chamber, a movable member for expelling the air from said chamber, sound producing means through which the air is expelled, means governing the emission of the produced sounds including a fixed part; and a 7 sound controlling member cooperatin with said fixed part and movable with t e expelling member and connected thereto by means permitting of the movement of one of said members as an independent unit with respect to the other in an angular direction relative to the line of movement of saidexpelling member,

4. In a sound producing device, an air chamber, a movable member for expelling the air from said chamber, sound producing means through which the air is expelled, and means controlling the emission of sound including a relatively fixed part having a sound emittin orifice, and a member coactin with said part and movable with said expellin member to control the emission of sound through said orifice, said members having a loose connection with each other whereby said coacting member may assume its operative position in relation to said fixed part independently of the operating position of the expelling member relative to said fixed part.

5. In a sound producing device, an air chamber, a gravity movable air expelling piston in said chamber, sound producing means through which the air is expelled, a fixed sound emission tube extending through said chamber and having an emission orifice, and a sound controlling member slidable along said tube to coact with the emission orifice thereof and having a relatively shiftable connection at one of its ends with the air expelling piston whereby said control member mayv assume its operative position in relation to the emissioirtube independently of the operating position of the air expelling piston relative to said tube.

neeasre 6. In a sound producing device, an air chamber, an air expelling piston movable in said air chamber, sound producing means through which the air is expelled, a sound emission tube extending through said chamber and fixed in the walls thereof, said tube having an emission orifice, and a tubular sound control member slidingly engaged at one of its ends upon said tube to coact with the emission orifice thereof, said control member at its other end having a laterally extending part, and means connecting said part of the control member to the piston to permit of the relative lateral movement of the piston and control member whereby said control member may assume its operative position inrelation to the'emission tube independently of the operating position of the air expelling piston with respect to said tube.

7. In a sound producing device, an air chamber, sound producing and emittin means enclosed within said chamber an extending in parallel relation with an axis thereof, and air expelling and sound controlling means slidably mounted for unitary gravity movement in said chamber with respect to the sound producing and emitting means, said controlling means comprising a member surrounding the emitting means and having spaced parts, one of which is slidably engaged with the emitting means to control the emission of sound and the other of which is provided with a sound egress opening.

8. In a sound producing device, an air chamber, a fixed sound emitting tube extending axially of said chamber, sound producing means associated with said tube, means for expelling air from said chamber through the sound producing means and said tube consisting of a gravity movable air expellin member supported by the chamber wal s for axial movement with re spect to said tube, and means movable along said tube with the air expelling member and coacting'with said tube to control the emission of the sounds.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name hereunder.

LEO a. GRUBMAN. 

